Tile.



No. 850,272.- l PA'TENTED APR. 16, 1907.

- Gr. B. STAPLES.

' TILE'. APPLIofTIoN FILED ooT.1a. 1904. BBNEWBD VNOVA-1.1905.

UNITED SlAfifEcl TBLE..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 16', 1907'.

Application filed October 13, 1904i Renewed llovernber 24, 1905. Serial Non 288,903.

To cal whom, it 'muy concern:

Beit known that I, Groen B. STAPLEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Phila# delphia, Pennsylvania., have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in tiles for making floors and walls and is a development of the tile disclosed by me in Letters Patent of the United States No. 746,399, dated December S, 1903.

In my present invention I aim to provide a structure which will present strength and lasting wearing qualities and which can be made economically and with a material of inferior quality to that which will be necessary with other structures.

The invention includes a tile made up of the` combination of a facing material of suitable composition united with a backing material, such as metal, from which wearingpoints extend upwardly through the composition material and are exposed at the surface thereof, said wearing-points serving as the means for uniting the composition facing with the backing or foundation plate and said tile being provided with means to interlock with an adjacent tile, so that they will be held together, and thus the floor or wall constructed.

- In carrying out my invention I prefer to employ a metal foundation-plate provided with'upwardly-extending wearing-points or pins having their sides tapered downwardly, so as to afford locking connections for the composition material, which is placed on the said plate and extends up flush with the upper faces of the said Wearing points or pins, the backing-plate' having also interlocking tongues or projections to fit into recesses formed in a portion of the adjacent tile and preferably in the composition material formmg a part of said adjacent tile.

The inventionconsists in the features and combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims. V

In the accomA anying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the foundation-plate forming part of the tile. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the said plate with the composition facing material in place thereon, said section being taken through the tongues and wearing points or pins. Fig. 3 is a sectional view l i l l j l l i l l taken transversely of the tile on liuc 3 3 of Fig. 1.

ln the drawings the foundation or backing plate l is preferably formed of metal and consists of a flat plate having its sides indented at 2 and' provided with projecting tongues 3, having upturned beveled lips 4, adapted to interlock with recesses on an adjacent tile. The foundation-plate carries upwardly-projecting1 wearing points or pins 5, whose sides are beveled and tapered downwardly, as at 6. Four of these wearingpoints are shown, but more or less may be used, and these may be differently disposed from what the drawings show. The composition facing material 7 rests upon the foundationeplate and is of a thickness to extend flush with the upper faces of the wearingpins. It is composed in part of rubber, but I do not limit myself to any particular material. It extends to the edge 8 at each end of the tile and out to the dotted lines 9, Fig. l, so as to overlie the .indented or recessed sides of the tile before described. These overlying portions, as shown in Fig. 3, are provided with sockets ll, which are adapted to afford means for interlocking with the tongues of the adjacent tile.

By reason of the structure above presented the composition material may be of inferior quality to that which will be necessary were the tile wholly composed of a composition, for

it will be seen in the present arrangement that the composition of inferior quality will be held iirmly to the foundation-plate, and the wearing-points are so disposed as toreceive the wear, and thus protect the inferior composition, and thereby increase the life of the same.

I do not limit myself to a tile in which the interlocking projections are formed on the metallic foundation, though I prefer this' construction. Neither do I limit myself to the precise shape Iof the foundation-plate nor to the form illustrated of the upwardly-projecting wearing points or pins. I prefer to form the foundationplate with an opening or openings therethrough to be filled by the composition. This lightens the tile, while not materially detracting from its strength.-

I claim as my invention- 1. A tile comprising a foundation-plate and a facing material applied thereto with a part extending from said foundation-plate up into the facing material, the said tile having projecting tongues and recesses to interlock with adjacent tiles, the said tongues being on the foundation-plate, substantially as described. f

2. A tile comprising a foundation-plate and facing material applied thereto and held by a projecting part extending up from the said plate and engaging the facing material, said tile having tongues on the foundationplate and recesses in the facing material opening downwardly, substantially as described.

3. A tile comprising a foundation-plate and a facing material and tongues on the foundation-plate extending laterally beyond the facing material and upwardly to interlock with adjacent tiles, substantially as described.

4. A tile comprising a foundation-plate and a composition facing therefor, with pins or wearing-points extending up from the foundation-plate through the composition material, the said tile having projecting tongues and recesses to interlock with adjacent tiles, the said tongues being on the j foundation-plate and the said recesses being formed in the composition material, substantially as described.

5. ln combination in a tile, a foundationplate having indented sides and a projecting tongue and a composition facing overhanging the indented sides and provided with recesses to interlock with tongues on the adjacent tile, substantially as described.

6. A tile composed of a metal foundation and a composition facing overhanging a part of the same provided with means forinterlocking with an adjacent tile, substantially as described.

7. A tile composed of a metal foundation and a composition facing overhanging a part of the same, and a recess in the overhanging part for interlocking with an adjacent tile, substantially as described.

8. A tile having a foundation-plate and'a facing material secured thereto, said facing material'having a recess on its under side to receive the locking-tongue to hold said tile to the acent tile, substantially as described.

9. A tile having a foundation-plate with indented sides and a facing extending over the indented sides and provided with recesses on the under face thereof to .receive a locking-tongue, substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE B. STAPLES.

Witnesses GEO. lV. CLEMENT, lsADoRE STERN. 

